Google Wallet, what with its NFC-based mobile payment system – has long struggled to attract interest. At times it almost seems like there's a conspiracy trying to keep it from finding mainstream success, yet so far Google's kept putting up the good fight. Lately, however, there's been the sense that even Google could be tiring of Wallet, and it looked like the company was backing away from its plans for a physical Google Wallet card. Now, the new Nexus 7 has launched, and despite being a pure-Google device, free from carrier meddling, it lacks basic hardware support for Wallet; is this ...

I've been an advocate of using Google Wallet since I've been able to run the app on my smartphone. Walking into the local convenience store, phone in hand, and paying for my Monster Energy Drink by tapping my phone to their reader was, for lack of another phrase, science-fiction realized! The cashier smiled and chuckled a little -- a guy trying to use his phone to make a purchase! Shenanigans! Then the receipt printed out. The look on that cashier's face was epic: disbelief and jaw-dropping amazement. After that I started looking for places I could pay with my phone, just so I could see ...

Watch today's Pocketnow Daily as we talk about the possibility of getting an eight megapixel front-facing camera on Android smartphones in the near future. We later talk about the Nokia Lumia 928, which was officially launched on Verizon. Samsung is next as the Galaxy S 4 Zoom could probably be announced this month. Google follows as it seems they'll revamp their wallet strategy again. We end today's news talking about the leaked specs of the New Google Nexus 7. All this and more after the break. Stories: - Eight Megapixel Front-Facing Cameras Coming to Multiple Androids - Nokia Lumia 928 ...

Mobile payment systems are some of the biggest disasters in the smartphone world. The failure for any to catch on speaks to everything wrong with the industry: the tech is there, the infrastructure is in place, yet greed, egos, and back-room deals have managed to hold a pillow to the face of this otherwise promising technology. Last fall we saw evidence that Google, frustrated with an inability to get Wallet onto more Androids, was implementing its own card system, where users of incompatible phones could simply use this physical card to pay, instead. Now a new report claims that Google ...

You don't have to be a rocket scientist to realize that companies which issue credit cards are threatened by smartphones and the advent of mobile payments. We've already seen such companies band together for their own ISIS system to compete against the likes of Google Wallet, which from the get-go has been jumping through hoops to be able to function in a landscape largely under their control. Now one is spelling out plain as day about just what they want from companies building mobile payment solutions: money. Visa's CEO Charlie Scharf explained that he believes "it is totally ...

Google's been struggling for over a year now to drum-up interest in Google Wallet, and despite the arrival of more and more Androids with NFC capabilities, it faces some formidable competition from alternate mobile payment systems with carrier backing, like the threat posed by Isis. Now Google could have one more player to worry about, with Samsung announcing its own partnership with Visa and demonstrating its own Wallet app. While Samsung Wallet and its Visa deal are separate arrangements, together they could draw users away from Google Wallet. All new Samsung Androids with NFC will offer ...

We kicked-off November by learning about a big change that was in the works for Google Wallet, upon a leaked future version of the app revealing details about a new program to introduce a physical Google Wallet card. Such a card would allow Google Wallet users to make payments at retailers that didn't support NFC, and it seemed that Google might use the card to extend access to users with phones that lacked NFC hardware themselves. That's all looking essentially confirmed at this point, upon Google posting some details of the card to its Google Wallet support pages. Here, Google makes it ...

Last month, we caught wind of something big happening over at Google Wallet, but it wasn't yet clear just what was going on. The site seemed to suggest that the service would soon become available to iPhone users, as well as smartphone owners on other platforms, though we remained in the dark as to just how this would work with phones that lacked NFC abilities. We're still not sure if this is exactly what Google was talking about, but some leaked info from an unreleased Google Wallet app seems to suggest that Google could be introducing a physical Google Wallet credit card, linked to your ...

Watch today's Pocketnow Daily as we talk about the Microsoft Surface and how it's already shipping to certain lucky customers. Then we discus the Surface and Windows 8 since both Skype and Hulu+ will be available at the time of their launch in the Windows Store. Then we talk about the LG Nexus 4 and the recent rumors. Then we go through some future changes that will come to Google Wallet and why these matter. We end today's show talking about the iPad Mini event and all the predictions. All this and more after the break.

Google Wallet has come a long way in recent months, finally sorting-out some of its aversion to credit card payments, and bringing on a whole bunch of new users through the release of the Nexus 7. Now it looks like Google is getting ready to implement some big changes, teasing a new version of Wallet on the horizon. The main Wallet page advertises the new version coming soon, and provides a link to a signup page to request an invitation to the new Wallet. What's interesting are the options that the page presents (above), appearing to support the iPhone and other non-Android hardware. Does ...

Were you an early adopter of Google Wallet? Did you add funds to your account through a Google prepaid card? We reported last month that Google was ending the prepaid program, and it's already stopped letting users add funds to cards as well as link them to new phones. That was a month ago today, and now Google is finally letting users who still have a balance on their cards start taking steps to reclaim that money. Google has a new form up on its site that lets you submit your info for getting your prepaid balance returned. You'll need to provide your personal details, as well as some ...

The LG Optimus Elite is available on Virgin Mobile since Wednesday for $149.99 and, while its specs aren't of the high-end kind, the phone packs Near Field Communications (NFC), which is a first for Virgin Mobile. As such, the carrier is trying to push both this hardware feature and Google Wallet by throwing in some bonuses. If you purchase and activate an LG Optimus Elite on Virgin Mobile from May 18 to July 18, 2012, you can get $25 credit on your Google Wallet account. You have to activate your Google Wallet and Google Wallet prepaid card within a week of activating the Optimus ...